We know little about the history of the Morris, although some sizable books have
been produced on the subject.

One such book is ‘History and the Morris Dance’ by John Cutting; you are
directed to this for an in-depth view of the Morris from the 1400s to 1850.

What is true is that there are many tales regarding the history of the Morris
that do not stand up to inspection. They are very often thought up to explain
the performance to the public.

There is no truth in the idea that the Morris is a pre-Christian fertility rite
- well, not in England anyway!

One favourite, but untrue, story is that the Morris dancers went off to the
Great War and died in the trenches. This was a story put out to explain the
decline of the Morris at the end of the 1800s, but, of course, the Great War was
fifteen years later!

Cecil Sharp’s “Morris Book” is a detailed description of Morris at the end of
the 1800s.

Both are available by post from the Morris Shop, part of the
Morris Ring.

We can trace the Morris back to the early 1400s, but where it came from is
unclear. The most popular origin is thought to be northern Spain, where there is
a similar dance called the Morisco, but all other options for its origin
are from Western Europe.

The Morris was danced by groups from a given area (a village, or, in the
North-West, a mill, for example) and the dances and steps were handed down by
word of mouth. This explains why each location has, over the years, developed
its own style.

In the 1800s (and before?) the dance was performed as a fund- raising activity
for the dancers and would therefore have been performed at set times of the year
during, say, a gap in the farming calendar, to help provide an income until
regular work could again be had.

Today, Morris Sides still collect whilst dancing, but this money is normally
donated to charity.

We have many indications that the Morris was danced on a regular basis up to the
end of the 1800s when the tradition almost died out, there being only two Sides
left in action: Bampton and Headington (although there may well have been
more!)

It was at this time that Cecil Sharp started to note down the dances, and this
was the first time the Morris had been recorded rather than being handed down by
word of mouth.

The Morris Ring was formed in the 1930s, followed by the Federation of Women’s
Morris (now the Morris Federation) and finally the Open Morris. These
organisations were formed to represent Morris Sides, and all three now work
closely together under the umbrella of the Joint Morris Organisation, providing
member Sides with Public Liability Insurance as well as representing the Morris
to Government and other bodies.

In the present day, the tradition is performed all over the country by about 700
Morris Sides dancing Cotswold, North-West, Border, Molly, Rapper and Sword
Morris. There are also Sides spread throughout the English-speaking world.

COTSWOLD
Cotswold Morris comes from the villages of Oxfordshire and the surrounding
counties. Cotswold kit is based on either 1800s cricket or football kit, clothes
which would have been available to all members of the Side.

This sports kit was then covered with sashes, baldrics, flowers and ribbons, and
bell-pads were worn on the knee.

Dances are performed with either sticks or hankies, normally with six dancers.

BORDER
These dances come from the counties along the border between England and Wales.
There is also a modern style based on Border.

Dancers black their faces and wear “tatters”, originally a jacket turned inside
out with its lining slashed using a razor – this was an early form of
camouflage!

Today, a tattered jacket is normally based on a shirt with small pieces of
material sewn on.

The dances are performed with sticks or hankies, like Cotswold.

NORTH-WEST
Also known as Clog Morris, this style of dancing, from Lancashire and the
surrounding counties, is thought to have come from the first Industrial
Revolution when workers left the fields to work in the mill towns. The style of
dancing was adapted to fit the narrow cobbled streets, and thus gives the
tradition its ‘marching band’ style.

Kit was provided by the mill owners, who provided Sides with cloth to make their
kit from. This, over the years, has resulted in many styles of kit being
produced.

In the 1800s the Side would practice in clogs or boots but dance out in shoes -
today, this has been reversed.

Most, although not all, North-West dances are danced with eight dancers. Dances
are performed with garlands, small sticks, bobbin centres and a number of other
implements.

MOLLY
This is the least common style in terms of the number of Sides dancing. Seven
Champions were the best-known Side in recent years but they have, sadly, folded.
Some modern Sides dance a mixture of Molly and the modern form of Border – i.e.
the dances are a mixture of both styles.

SWORD & RAPPER
Sword Morris is from the North-Eastern counties and is, as the name implies, a
type of Morris danced with swords. Rapper is very similar but is danced with a
‘rapper’, a two-handled flexible blade used to scrape the dirt from the backs of
pit ponies.

Some Sword and Rapper dancers do not think they are Morris dancers, but the move
to separate these two types of dance from the Morris has never gained much
ground, although it is ongoing.

Kit is often similar to Cotswold.

APPALACHIAN
An increasingly popular dance form, thought to have developed as a combination
of Tap, English Morris, Clog and Irish dancing ‘exported’ to America and turned
into a dance form that has now ‘come home’.

Whilst not strictly Morris, it is a similar type or style of folk dance, and
many Morris dancers also dance Appalachian.

MUMMING
No dancing is involved, but the Mummers’ Play is so closely connected to the
Morris that it is considered by many to be part of the tradition. It centres
round St George and his fight against Bold Slasher, the Turkish Knight. It has a
moveable number of performers, and is normally performed over the Christmas
period and in the early New Year.

CARNIVAL or ‘FLUFFY’ MORRIS
Not Morris as such, but a style of dance developed for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
Each location throughout the country was expected to produce a group of dancers.
Although it is called Morris, it has little to connect it to the Morris, and is,
in the main, danced by groups of young girls, having more of a connection with
cheerleading than with Morris. It is very competitive (unlike Morris) and is
considered by many Morris dancers to have no connection with ‘real’ Morris.

As a result of this, the 300 or so groups dancing this style must be considered
as wholly separate from the 700 Sides who are members of the three Morris
Organisations.

Danced mainly in the North-West, it does have the advantage that some dancers,
when they get older, join a Morris Side.